RTman10 wrote:You will find the socket to connect it behind and under the headlight, normally has a black cap on it.
This photograph shows 3 sockets, the power socket is the top one.
The BMW or NN lead would plug in to this socket which has 2 wires (Red/White +ve & Brown -ve).
Wow, excellent information Dayglodave, much appreciated. Yes, saw the feedback from the BMW Motorrad site which set me on this journey of setting up the V cradle to power my Garmin 660! I've got a couple of hours spare today so will stick a DVM on the connectors and see what the actual situation is. l can't see why I should'nt be able to get the V cradle working, but as RTman10 says it may just not be compatable. Let me have a play and report back. Plan B will have to be be the standard Garmin mount using the Nippy Norman connector.
Had a further look into this today and found some interesting things, but no silver bullet. So what did I learn:
the 2006 RT only has one connector under the headstock. It has three wires; red/white, blue & brown. Housed in the male version of the nippy norman type connector. No cap on it so it looks like it has been used previously.
the V cradle has two looms / connectors, one with three wires; red, black & purple. These are housed in a female version of nippy norman type connector. This is the cable I've used to make the connection. The second cable has two wires brown & red in a different housing, not sure what this is for?
the socket under the headstock has power to it even with the ignition off, I found this out when putting my test wires into the male connector as the one in the red/white wire shorted against the frame! Also with the DVM across the red / white & brown wires it again 'sparked. I was rather surprised by this! So I'm thinking V+ is red /white & Blue V- & the brown part of the cam bus, but I need a look at a wiring diagram to figure this out.
By plugging the 660 into the cradle with the ignition on or off it did power-up from time to time, but it stayed on when the ignition was turned off, which makes sense if there is power to the connector at all times. But the unit was not charging this I'm sure of as the battery icon lost a bar whilst I was experimenting.
So in summary not great and I'm not convinced about the socket under headset. Next step I will probably try my Garmin mount directly wired into the battery to see if this sorts things out. A real shame as the V cradle is such a nice tidy fit. So much for an easy life!
the 2006 RT only has one connector under the headstock. It has three wires; red/white, blue & brown.
I think the photographs showing three connectors under the headstock are of an RT with an Audio system.
From what I can remember, my 2010 TC RT (non-Audio) only has one connector.
The red/white wire will be +ve & the brown wire -ve, blue not used.
the V cradle has two looms / connectors, one with three wires; red, black & purple. These are housed in a female version of nippy norman type connector. This is the cable I've used to make the connection. The second cable has two wires brown & red in a different housing, not sure what this is for?
I believe the second cable with two wires is for Audio use, would make sense if your bike is a non-Audio model.
Last edited by David. on Sun Mar 13, 2016 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If your single plug is showing live with the ignition off its been interfered with as that plug is definitely canbus controlled and goes off about 40 seconds after switch off.
Also if you say you 660 went down a bar when you had it in the cradle it was not getting power from the bike as it doesn't show the bars when on bike power.
As you said there was no cover on the plug it could of course been damaged by weather over the years as well.
Might still pay go visit your local dealer and ask them to connect a V before you try anything else.
the socket under the headstock has power to it even with the ignition off, I found this out when putting my test wires into the male connector as the one in the red/white wire shorted against the frame! Also with the DVM across the red / white & brown wires it again 'sparked. I was rather surprised by this! So I'm thinking V+ is red /white & Blue V- & the brown part of the cam bus, but I need a look at a wiring diagram to figure this out.
Can you work out what colour wire goes to which pin, I'd say that red/white is +ve & brown -ve, blue not used.
By plugging the 660 into the cradle with the ignition on or off it did power-up from time to time, but it stayed on when the ignition was turned off, which makes sense if there is power to the connector at all times. But the unit was not charging this I'm sure of as the battery icon lost a bar whilst I was experimenting.
If the 660 powered up from time to time, could there be a dirty connection between the cradle & the back of the 660.
The pins on the cradle should spring in & out a little when depressed, they can become sticky.
Cleaned mine using some Electrical Contact Cleaner & an old toothbrush.
RTman10 wrote:
If your single plug is showing live with the ignition off its been interfered with as that plug is definitely canbus controlled and goes off about 40 seconds after switch off.
Also if you say you 660 went down a bar when you had it in the cradle it was not getting power from the bike as it doesn't show the bars when on bike power.
As you said there was no cover on the plug it could of course been damaged by weather over the years as well.
Might still pay go visit your local dealer and ask them to connect a V before you try anything else. I would also advise against going directly to the battery. Although the Garmin and the BMW cradles both have covers they are far from weather proof with the unit off.
UKDucatiman wrote:So in summary not great and I'm not convinced about the socket under headset.
How about getting a male version of the power connector (like the one under the headstock), attaching it to the Nav V Cradle & take an ignition switched power supply from the Aux. Socket on the left-hand front side panel.
RT Socket V cradle socket
Red / white - Red
Black - Brown
Purple - Blue
The V cradle is as new, little use all pins moving ok. Interstingly the battery icon on the Garmin did go off a couple of times when I was testing, but I think the main issues remains, which is there's power at the RT socket even with the bike turned off. Thanks again for your support!
DaygloDavid wrote:
How about getting a male version of the power connector (like the one under the headstock),attaching it to the Nav V Cradle & take an ignition switched power supply from the Aux. Socket on the left-hand front side panel.
Oh, the small socket used for charging the battary, may be worth a try. Probably better to just remove the connector and hardware into the aux socket. Will consider this as otherwise the V cradle will be of no use to me.
UKDucatiman wrote:Probably better to just remove the connector and hardware into the aux socket. Will consider this as otherwise the V cradle will be of no use to me.
Was going to suggest this but wasn't sure if you wanted to cut the connector off the Nav V Cradle.
These are some of the BMW Repair plugs, item No.7 looks like it may be the correct one, (like under the headstock), probably about £5 from a BMW Dealer.
